Giants' Posey honored with inspirational McCovey award

The Sports Xchange

The SportsXchange•September 22, 2012

Buster Posey. In a landslide. If it wasn't a landslide, it should have been. Posey won the Willie Mac Award on Friday as the most inspirational member of the San Francisco Giants. It's mostly voted on by players, and Willie McCovey himself gets a vote. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is a big night for me," McCovey told the crowd before the Giants' 5-1 victory over the Padres. "I get to vote every year for this award. I don't usually reveal who I vote for, but this year I voted for this guy. The winner is Buster Posey." Of course. On a day Melky Cabrera was back in the news -- he's no longer eligible for the NL batting crown, based on a ruling by MLB and the players' union -- Posey provided good vibes by winning the award. He missed four months last season after a devastating home-plate collision, and he has rebounded to become perhaps the leading MVP candidate. He called it a "great honor" and added, "To have your name mentioned alongside Willie McCovey makes it even better. Any time you're recognized by your teammates it's humbling." Several former Willie Mac winners were on hand for a pregame ceremony, including Dave Dravecky. Cabrera volunteered to withdraw from the batting race, trying to return to baseball's good graces. On a technicality (he had 501 plate appearances instead of 502, the minimum required), baseball made history by saying he's ineligible even though Tony Gwynn once won a batting crown with fewer than 502 plate appearances, by adding a hitless at-bat for every plate appearance he was short -- which is allowed. Now the batting title is down to Posey and Pittsburgh's Andrew McCutchen.